Bad End Night
by JaraelMoonsilver
Summary: Just my take on the song "Bad End Night" (shocker). I'm sorry if some characters don't get the amount of attention they deserved; I began writing this and forgot Gumi was in it. Also, it's so hard sorting through all the Vocaloid characters, so let's just say it includes Vocaloid 8 and Yawane Haku (don't ask).
1. It Begins

It started as a normal performance, with the normal audience of no one.

It's not that we're bad actors, it's just that people don't spread the word. We are traveling performers, going from one town to another putting on short plays, musicals, and even sometimes a magic show or two (children get in free!). I'm writing this because I want people to know why we did the things we did; one person in particular.

Anyways, our performance ended, and then out of nowhere came a mysterious person in a dark cloak. The person came up to us, applauding. "Excellent show."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Kaito, our leader, bowed with a flourish. He always was the charming one.

"I have a proposal for you," The stranger continued.

"Well, well." Kaito grinned at the rest of us. "We would be honored-"

"-If we didn't have somewhere else to be in the morning." Gakupo, Kaito's brother interrupted. He would always do something like that to prove his brother wrong. The most annoying part for Kaito was that he was almost always right.

"I'm sorry." Kaito pulled Gakupo away to talk privately. "What do you mean? This could be our chance to actually do something!"

"You don't even know what the person is offering." I wasn't the only who couldn't tell if the stranger was a boy or girl.

"Then, let's find out." He put an arm around Gakupo's shoulders, turning to the stranger with a charming smile. "I apologize for my brother. He tends to speak out of turn. What was it you were saying?"

"I wish to employ you for a very important performance." Kaito gave his brother an "I told you so" look.

"Please, continue." Gakupo rolled his eyes.

"There is a large mansion just a little ways further in the woods. I need you to perform a certain play every night. I will pay you well for your services."

"What play?" Gumi, our "joker", as it were, stepped forwards. She always had a wisecrack at the tip of her tongue.

"One that I have written," The stranger replied. Gakupo cleared his throat. He may have been the cautious one, but he was clearly annoyed. He was a magician with words; being the one that wrote all our acts. He hated it when people imposed on his authority to organize us.

"What is about?" Asked Luka, our songwriter.

"All will be revealed in good time," The stranger replied.

Meiko, the eldest girl spoke up. "Sound a little fishy to me." Kaito gave her a look, but she shrugged it off. Neither of them would ever admit it, but the rest of us could tell they have feelings for each other.

The stranger nodded. "I understand your concerns, I will tell you everything once we arrive at the mansion. I will pay you well; provide any clothing or costumes you might need and enough food and drink to last a lifetime."

"I see no downside to this arrangement." Kaito looked around at all of us, everyone nodding with the exception of Gakupo. He turned back to the stranger. "We accept."

"Excellent." It produced a scroll of parchment with room at the bottom for all of our names and a pen. "Please, sign here." Kaito took the pen, but Gakupo tried to stop him.

"You have no idea what we're getting into." Kaito shook him off.

"It'll be fine."

Everyone went down the line, singing their names without any problem. Well, with the exception of...

"I don't know how to spell my name!"

"Neither do I!"

Rin and Len, the youngest of our group called out in distress. I knelt beside them. "Don't worry. I'll help you." Putting my hand around theirs, I helped them write their names.

"Thank you, Yawane!" They both chorused.

Ah, yes. I almost forgot. I am the tailor. I make the costumes and the sets. My name is Yawane Haku.

Gakupo was the last to sign. He hesitated, then sighed. He wrote his name dejectedly, then went to stand by Kaito as the stranger rolled up the parchment and stuck it in the folds of its robe.

"I will go along with this," Gakupo whispered in his brother's ear. "But if anything happens, it will on your head."

The stranger smiled. "I'm glad you have accepted. Please... follow me."


	2. Back Stories

**Uh... hi! This is an awkward AN. I just wanted you to know that I may be changing the POV as the story progresses, so I'll be sure to tell you when that happens. Anyways, allons-y!**

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><p>The stranger led us through the forest; the sky getting darker as we went along. There was nothing of note on the way, so I may take this time to tell you a bit about our troupe.<p>

Kaito and Gakupo were brothers. Kaito was the oldest at 20, and Gakupo just below him at 18. They had lived in a small village since they were small. Kaito always had a way with his voice; he could charm the birds out of the tree if he wished. And while Gakupo was not a bad singing himself, what he excelled at was writing. He used to write poems, and Kaito would turn them into songs. Gakupo wasn't a bad dancer, either. He organized our choreography with the help of Meiko. Kaito was the sort of person who acted before thinking, and Gakupo the opposite. Needless to say, they fought often- even if only to make it up a minute later. They joined the group because their family was growing poorer and couldn't support them anymore.

Meiko was tough. She did the choreography for the fight scenes in our plays. She fell right below Kaito when it came to age, being 20. She knew how to use almost every weapon, and was not someone to mess with. She grew up as the youngest of three brothers and no mother, so she became obstinate when it came to girl things. Her father was a weaponsmith, but had died shortly before she left. Her brothers had stayed behind to continue their father's business, but she wanted to find her fortune elsewhere.

Luka was sweet. She was nice, caring, and like a mother to us all; a fun, non-reprimanding mother. She was 19, between Meiko and Gakupo. She had grown up on a farm in the middle of the country, but her manners were exquisite. Her family had given her a nudge out the door. They loved her, but didn't want her spending the rest of her life at home. She hardly ever got angry, and was very reserved and calm.

Gumi was a prankster. Only a few months older than me, she was 17. She came up with the humorous acts for us, and acted the jester most of the time. We all know why, but we never mention it. She had grown up in a fairly large town and had lived with her parents. Unfortunately, both her and her mother lived in constant fear. Her father had been a terrible drinker, and whenever he came would beat them both. Eventually, her mother died and she couldn't take it anymore. She ran away, and never mentioned her previous life.

Rin and Len were orphans. They never knew their parents, and had run away from the orphanage because they knew the chance of them getting separated was very good. They were about 12, but no one knows for sure.

And then there is me. I'm the quiet one in the group, and the youngest one besides the twins- 17 years. I work as the tailor; sewing costumes and building props and sets. I don't really remember my parents. I had been taken to an orphanage at age 6, and stayed there for ten years. Yes, ten years. I had company, though. My sister. We had spent those years together after our parents death, until that fateful day when someone took her away. She tried to convince them to take me, too, but they only had enough room for one girl. She was a year younger than me, so she would be 16 now. I ran away, like Rin and Len, and joined the troupe in hopes of performing in the town the my sister ended up in. If I could see her just once, I would be happy.

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><p><strong>Well, that's all folks! Sorry this chapter is so short; I just wanted to get it out there. Also, I'm sorry for explaining everyone's back story so... straightforwardly. I wanted to let a little seep into the story bit by bit, but I couldn't figure out how to fit it. So, instead, I wrote an exposition chapter. Sorry... or you're welcome?<strong>

**Anyways, please review!**


	3. The Stage is Set

When we arrived at our destination, it was pitch black.

"Whoa." We all stopped. The mysterious figure had led us to a mansion; a very, very large mansion. It towered above us, looking almost menacing in the moonlight.

"Welcome to your new home," The cloaked person announced.

Everyone gaped at the size of the place, but Gakupo was the first to speak up. "Um... where will we be performing?"

"In the mansion," Our benefactor replied.

"What do you mean?" Meiko asked.

"The entire house is a stage, and I will be your audience."

"Only you?" Gakupo raised an eyebrow. "I told you this was suspicious," He whispered to Kaito.

"Yes, only me." The person smiled. "Oh, and there is one other performer."

"Who?" Len said, jumping up and down with excitement. He didn't quite understand what was going on; only that we would be living in this amazing place.

"I can't tell you that," The person replied. "But she will arrive tonight." It then handed us all scripts. "Memorize these. Your first show will be tonight."

"What?" Gumi burst out. "You can't expect us to learn this in a few hours! We don't have enough time!"

The cloaked figure smiled. "Oh, I think you'll find you have an abundance of that." It turned. "Make it good."

"Wait!" I called, surprised at my sudden outburst. "What do you mean-?" But the person had already melted into the shadows.

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><p>"Well," Kaito said after we had entered the mansion, "We'd better get to learning this." It took a moment to stop gawking at the sheer size of the place, but we soon all opened our scripts and found the cast list.<p>

"Master of the House," Kaito read. He grinned. "Seems appropriate."

"Mistress." Meiko sighed dramatically. "I suppose this means I'll have to spend a lot of time with Kaito." She rolled her eyes, and the twins giggled.

"Doll… Children?" Rin asked.

"I guess we're just the kids," Len scratched his head. "I think."

Kaito leaned over Gakupo's shoulder. "Butler, huh?" He slapped his brother on the back. "Fetch me some tea, servant!" Gakupo smiled slightly.

"You have no idea how to run a household," He joked. "Besides, I believe that's Gumi's job."

"Maid? What's that supposed to mean?" Our green-haired companion called out indignantly. "I deserve better than that!"

"At least you're not the Lady. What does that even mean?" Luka folded her script carefully. " How am I different from Meiko?"

"What about you, Haku?" Gakupo asked me. I blushed, taking a tiny step back.

"Oh, I didn't get a part. I'm just in charge of setting up the props; that sort of thing."

"Well, that's not very fair. A pretty young lady such as yourself should have a role in this play. Now, if _I_ had written the script-"

"Oh, don't be like that," Gakupo interrupted his brother. "She doesn't enjoy unnecessary flattery from a stuck-up pig such as yourself."

"Unnecessary?" Kaito retorted.

"Yes," He replied, giving me a small smile. I blushed deeply as he winked at me. "She already knows she's beautiful."

"Knock it off, both of you!" Luka interceded. "You're making her uncomfortable!" I flashed her a grateful smile and mouthed the words, _Thank you_. She nodded back.

"Now," Gumi said, having mostly recovered from the shock of her being a pathetic servant _(the nerve of that cloaked person!)_. "About the other performer..." She pointed to her page. "Does anyone else see that the name is blank?"

Meiko nodded. "Yeah... What's that about? All it says is 'Village Girl'."

"I'm more concerned about how this person knew our names." Gakupo said, reverting his his usual sensible self. "It seems very..."

"Creepy?" Rin suggested.

"Yes," I agreed.

"Oh, come on!" Kaito said. "The person probably saw one of our posters in a nearby town. That has our names on it, right?"

Gakupo furrowed his brow. "I don't remember that..."

"Well, that's what happened!" Kaito nodded, not willing to admit he was wrong about agreeing to this. Not yet.

I flipped to the back of the script, looking for the list of props I would need to make, when I stopped. "Um... I think there's something wrong with my script."

"What?" Kaito looked over my shoulder.

"Mine doesn't have an ending." I pointed to the last page. "See?"

Everyone else turned to the last page, as well. "Hey! Mine doesn't have an ending, either!"

"Neither does mine!"

"What gives?"

We all looked at Kaito, waiting for answers. "Uh..." He stammered. "It probably just..."

"Wait," Gakupo said. He squinted. "Look. At the bottom of the page, there's tiny writing." He read it aloud. "It says, 'Find the "True End", or stay here forever. The Village Girl holds the key to the "Happy Ending". She is the only one who can decide. Don't make a "Bad End", or you'll have failed me. I don't like failures.'"

"What?" Meiko burst out. "What do you mean, we can't leave?" She marched to the door and tried to pull it open. It was stuck fast. Rin and Len clung to each other.

"What's going on?"

"Why can't we get out?"

"Shh..." Luka and I comforted them. "It'll be alright."

Gakupo looked around. "How long do you think we've been here?"

"About thirty minutes," Gumi replied, shivering. "Why?"

Gakupo gulped. "Because the clock hasn't moved since we arrived." He pointed. "See?"

"So?" Kaito said in a shaky voice. "It could just be broken."

Meiko ran to a nearby window and glanced out. She turned back to the others, her face white. "No, it's not."

I was more frightened now than ever. Meiko was never scared. I went beside her, looking out. "What do you mean?"

Then, as everyone crowded around the window, I realized what she meant.

The moon was in the same place as it had been when we entered.

Time had stopped.

We were all shaking at this point, when a knock on the door resounded through the mansion. We all jumped, some of us making a very embarrassing squeaking noise. Gakupo glanced down at his script, then walked to the door.

"We'd..." He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "We'd better start this play." He whispered over his shoulder, "Hurry and read over your lines."

Then, he opened the door.


End file.
